Hey all, hope you’re having a great thanksgiving. To celebrate, here is a mini-review of the greatest Thanksgiving movie of all time and the greatest Thanksgiving TV Episode.

Best Movie: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

People will probably fight me on this, but I think this is easily the best Thanksgiving movie of all time. It’s a comedy classic, it’s about Thanksgiving, and it’s about family.

SUMMARY

Neal Page (Steve Martin) is an advertising executive who needs to get home to his family in Chicago from New York for Thanksgiving. When he tries to get to the airport, his cab is stolen by Del Griffith (John Candy), a chatty shower-ring salesman who says he wants to get home to his wife. They end up being on the same flight, which gets diverted to Wichita due to weather. The pair share a cheap hotel room and Del gets on Neal’s nerves. However, Del defends himself as just being a friendly guy and calls Neal a cold cynic. During the night, they get robbed, but manage to catch a train heading to Chicago.

The train breaks down, leaving the pair stranded in Missouri. Del sells some shower-rings to get them a ticket to St. Louis. From there, Del rents a car and gives Neal a ride, resulting in Del falling asleep at the wheel and going into the wrong lane on the highway. While pulled over after nearly being killed, Del accidentally sets the car on fire. Neal sells his watch to get them a hotel room for the night, then they finally catch a ride in the back of a refrigerator truck. They finally separate at the Chicago metro rail station, only for Neal to realize that Del’s comments during the trip revealed that Del’s wife has actually died and Del is homeless. Neal returns and invites Del to his family’s Thanksgiving.

END SUMMARY

Look, this movie is one of the funniest Steve Martin films, one of the funniest John Candy films, and it’s an 80s John Hughes film which basically means it’s gold. It’s got some great dialogue, some hilarious sight gags, and a shocking amount of emotional moments. Upon re-watch, even I’d forgotten how many laughs there were, but I also had forgotten how many times in the movie everything slows down and lets you realize that these people are actually dealing with insane circumstances as best they can. If you haven’t seen it, you can rent it for $4 on Amazon.

Best TV Episode: Turkeys Away (WKRP in Cincinnati)

If you didn’t see this coming, you don’t have joy in your heart. This isn’t just the best Thanksgiving episode of television, this is one of the funniest episodes of television ever aired. While there are other great episodes of television that take place on Thanksgiving, this is the best it will ever get.

I’m not doing a summary, I already wrote a review for it. Here’s the link.

Happy Turkey Day, Y’all!!

If you want to check out some more by the Joker on the Sofa, check out the 100 Greatest TV Episodes of All Time or the Joker on the Sofa Reviews.

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